The Central African nation of Gabon on Wednesday announced it was suspending some social media platforms for spreading “inappropriate, defamatory, hateful, and abusive” content that was allegedly threatening “social cohesion, the stability of the republic’s institutions, and national security.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a law that criminalizes searches for “extremist” content on the internet, with fines of up to 5,000 rubles ($64) for each violation.
The Labour Party government in Britain may consider banning VPNs, according to unearthed plans made before the implementation of the controversial Online Safety Act.
Internet watchdogs generally agreed that Internet freedom declined once again in 2024 – the fourteenth loss in a row, according to Freedom House.
Tell me if this story sounds familiar: there’s a national security panic. Foreign adversaries threaten the homeland. Petty bipartisan disputes are put aside, and draft legislation is rushed out. At last, Congress is doing something.
The Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act or RESTRICT Act, sold to the public as a “TikTok ban,” does far more than simply ban the Chinese-linked platform.
Apple announced the launch of its new iCloud+ services at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) recently. One feature, called “Private Relay,” allows users to mask their browsing activity and identity similar to a virtual private network, but this feature will not be offered in China due to the country’s laws surrounding VPNs.
A web browser called Tuber that allowed Chinese users to bypass their oppressive government’s “Great Firewall” to access banned foreign services like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google suddenly vanished from the app stores over the weekend.
A new report from TechCrunch reveals that a controversial Facebook research program was spying on more teens than the company initially admitted.
Social media giant Facebook reportedly plans to shut down its unpaid market research program and Onavo, a VPN app which collected personal data on those using it.
Facebook has reportedly been paying teenagers to install a “Facebook Research” VPN, which allows the social network company to “suck in all of a user’s phone and web activity,” while skirting Apple’s developer rules.